JennyMare I can't understand anyone giving this movie anything but one star. It stinks. It's a tired and overdone plot with a main character who is very hard to care about. I wanted more of the stray dog story. At least that would have given us more to watch. Even Judd's roommate made a more interesting study. The Lucy/Judd character is just plain boring. She drinks. We get it. Coors light. We get it. Please buy it. She poses and plays pool and gets drunk every night. We get it. She drives too fast and she wears the same clothes every day. We get it. She sleeps around with strangers. We get it. She NEVER combs her freakin' hair. We DON'T get it. She is a most unhappy and unlikeable girl. We got it. I won't get the movie, however. I am actually glad I had a free rental here. Save your dimes and rent Kiss the Girls. At least that was interesting and you cared about Judd's character. And she combed her hair at least once. Sigh

cannonclubonline Amazingly enough, I knew segments of this film were being shot right down the street from my house here in North Little Rock in 2003, yet never got to see the film when it was released. I finally watched it here at the house this past June weekend.Although Joey Lauren Adams originally wrote the role of Lucy to play herself, she soon found it harder than she had imagined and got Ashley Judd to play the lead role instead. That was probably a wonderful idea although Ms. Adams is quite a talented actor.It took me a while to figure out the underlying message in this film, because it is presented in an almost silent and subtle way. One wanting happiness, but never really finding it. "One wanting something good in life, but nothing is worth having" type of message. We find out quite quickly that Lucy (Judd) has a taste for beer and pool halls. She shows us how miserable she really is in life, although she is trying extremely hard to come to grips with her family's skeletons.We never really get a feel for what the matter was between her and her Papa played by Pat Corley. All that we are able to gather, Lucy's father has moved back from somewhere and we know that Nana (Diane Ladd) has had previous conversations with him without prior knowledge. Diane Ladd is a wonderful actor who has been around in television and film for 52 years and I hope she gets to act as long as she can. We are made to feel a sense of almost desperation in Lucy as she tries to remain impervious to love. When she meets Cal Percell (Jeffrey Donovan) for the first time, we see the sparks fly in both directions, but we somehow know that Lucy can't decide to make anything good stick long enough to her ribs to make a difference.****************************** SPOILERS ******************************* Lucy struggles to find answers to her tremendous incessant remorse with her punishing habits of getting drunk and tying one on with any man that happens to catch her eye. Cal makes a comment that typically says it all. Cal asks Lucy "When was the last time that you kissed someone sober?" Lucy attends a local church with her father and soon has a meltdown while seeking answers to one of life's most difficult decisions one has to eventually make.Proper counsel with the very colorful pastor of the Holy Roller Church as it is referred to in the film does Lucy much good. She realizes that she has to forgive, not only others, but herself. The film takes a few disappointing turns toward the end, but still delivers to wrap up the story by easily making us aware that Lucy was about to leave her old ways behind and finally break free from her past so that she can really know what love is. The old adage is so true; before you fall in love, you need to love yourself.Director Joey Lauren Adams won the Women in Film Crystal Awards Dorothy Arzner Directors Award in 2006 for this film. Additional notice should be mentioned for the role of Uncle Tim (Tim Blake Nelson) and the roommate Kim (Laura Prepon) who both played memorable roles. Laura Prepon grew up in the north, so it was a pleasure to see her play such a wonderfully simple southern beauty.Thanks to the church and band members, the pastor, and Lyle's Starstudded Honky-Tonk Band. Don't let me forget two biggest guys Lucy loved dearly, Owen Allen (Stacy Keach), and Bob (Ritchie Montgomery).Joey, I hope you make more films in Arkansas because it's such a wonderful state to be from. Let's not for Grandmother "Doll" (Candyce Hinkle) who had a very small role but did great. Great Job!

eelranch I can't believe the number of gushing prior comments for this snooze-fest.Okay, I get the story: a woman whose relationships are negatively affected by the failures of her parents' and grandparents' relationships. A decent enough premise.The result, however, was dreadful. Stunted dialog, surreal locations, and a near absence of plot add up to 90 minutes of nothing much. I could have more profitably spent my time sleeping.With the appearance of bottles of Coors Light every few minutes I began to wonder if the brewery was financing the film. But it's not possible. Coors Light commercials have superior story lines.

kilgomr great movie. Just a good, honest, satisfying movie. I went with my fiancé to go see this movie at the crossroads film festival and this one made me feel really glad that we have a quality, local film festival in Jackson. I thought the movie tried at every turn to not go for sentimentality or cheap emotion, but nonetheless had some real moments of pain and hope. It is good to see a movie that really tries to say something and doesn't pander. The movie is good in the way that "Half Nelson" is, it presents real problems that people face and the true difficulties which accompany these difficulties. The south i portrayed in a refreshing and legitimate fashion. This is a movie that reminds you that there are so many good movies out there that are just under the surface, much better in quality than 90% of the large-release movies.